Catherine Wheel - Marianna Simnett
Marianna Simnett, Catherine Wheel, 2026. Installation view at Circus, Secession 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Société, Berlin. Photo: Sophie Pölzl
Catherine Wheel (Marianna Simnett, 2026) features an illuminated blue skirt spinning above the viewer, synchronized with the artist’s involuntary laughter. The sound is drawn from a four-hour tickling session that pushed Simnett into a state of deep exhaustion and unpredictability. The resulting laughter feels dark and strained, edged with gallows humour at times almost possessed in tone. The skirt’s relentless motion becomes unsettling through its persistence, shifting from a visual gesture into something more bodily and oppressive, as if exerting a pressure that cannot be resisted or escaped.
